November 11, 2011

Hasidic Bus Company Uses Yiddish To Illegally Order Passengers to Segregate By Gender

Private Transportation Corporation's B110 schedule and guidelines seems benign in English. But its Yiddish version orders men and women to segregate by gender and cites a ruling by haredi rabbis that forbids the sexes from mixing on the B110 – a clear violation of federal and state law.

That's what the hasidic owners of the B110 bus line franchise tell passengers.

The B110 is a privately operated public bus line. The contract to operate it was put up for bid by the city years ago and was awarded to a hasidic-owned bus company, Private Transportation Corporation.

The B110 runs between the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park and Williamsburg, two hasidic population centers. It uses public bus stops on city streets and is a part of the city's public transportation system and it is required to follow New York City, New York State and Federal law – including laws that prohibit discrimination by race, national origin, sexual orientation and gender.

This is what the Private Transportation Corporation's B110 bus schedule and guidelines says about gender segregation as translated from the Yiddish by C.O., the reader who sent them to me:

According to the psak [religious ruling] of the rabbis, men should concentrate themselves in the front seats in the first half of the bus, and women in the second half. Under no circumstances will men be allowed to stand in the second half of the bus, among the women, nor will women be allowed among the men in the first half of the bus.

When the front part of the bus is crowded with standing men, women are not allowed to board the bus from the front entrance in an attempt to push through between the men [to get to the back of the bus]. If possible, women will be allowed to enter the bus through the back door, after they paid first in front to the driver.

But in the English section of the guidelines, the only mention gender is this:

"When boarding a crowded bus with standing room only, women should be allowed to board first."

In other words, PTC tells English speakers one thing and Yiddish speakers another, and what it tells Yiddish speakers is a clear violation of US and New York State law.

PTC recently told the city in writing that it did not now and never had mandated gender segregation on the B110:

Quite obviously, PTC was lying.

So, how should the city respond to this lie and to PTC's intentional violation of US and New York State law and city policy, and its clear attempt to hide that violation by ordering Yiddish speakers to viololate the law while making it appear to English speakers that any gender segregation is voluntary?

PTC clearly violated its contract with the city, which should make that contract null and void.

The city should put the B110 contract up for bid again, barring PTC or any of its principals from bidding on or from operating the new B110.

Here is the B110 schedule and guidlines as they were sent to me by a reader, followed by a closeup of the guidelines. The area within the top red box contains the Yiddish text translated above. The area in the bottom red box in the closeup contains the only English language text discussing gender:

Here is the entire letter from PTC to the city in response to the city's questions to PTC about illegal gender segregation on the B110 as reported in the media:

Comments

Hasidic Bus Company Uses Yiddish To Illegally Order Passengers to Segregate By Gender

Private Transportation Corporation's B110 schedule and guidelines seems benign in English. But its Yiddish version orders men and women to segregate by gender and cites a ruling by haredi rabbis that forbids the sexes from mixing on the B110 – a clear violation of federal and state law.

Failed messiah was established and run in 2004 by Mr. Shmarya (Scott)Rosenberg. The site was acquired by Diversified Holdings, Feb 2016. .We thank Mr. Rosenberg for his efforts on behalf of the Jewish Community.

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